355 replies to this topic

[cooperd70]

Like the above comment fantastic work, this pup is really coming together now.

Is this one yours MM?

[Baldspeed Racing]

the fab work with top dolla as the norm, always good reading your updates chap

[Ben_O]

 

Like the above comment fantastic work, this pup is really coming together now.

Is this one yours MM?

 

No, It's KTS's

 

Cheers

Ben

[Ben_O]

Quick refit of the drivers door to double check and that's one side done

 

 

The gaps are too tight but this will be rectified when I reskin the door.

 

Next up, the passenger side inner wing was removed

 

 

And then a clean up before trial fitting the new inner wing

 

 

It seemed to drop nicely into place

 

I then clamped and screwed the inner and outer A panels on so that I could try the door on.

I wasn't expecting it to be good and It certainly wasn't

 

The front isn't too sad

 

 

But the back......

 

 

Not far off of the fit in the photo the owner put up a few pages back.

 

I had a tweak around and achieved a better gap

 

 

 

Still a long way off but I think there is something else going on here as the wing doesn't want to sit nicely either.

 

I screwed the step and jamb in to stiffen things up

 

 

And had another go

 

 

It's starting to even out but it needs to be better so ill have a think over the weekend and go back to it next week

 

It doesn't help that the door frame is out of shape too which is causing this

 

 

But I can address that when reskinning the door.

 

hmmmmmmm

[cooperd70]

love the care taken over ensuring everything offers up really nice after all the bodge jobs that we all hear about. Magic is happening here folks ???

[KTS]

Drivers' door is looking really good already. Very pleased with what you've done there Ben

Not sure I want to know how/why the passenger door frame's out of shape, but looking forward to see how you deal with it

Cheers!

[Ben_O]

Long time no see but beavering has been done.

 

This corner of the truck has given me major grief. 

I managed to get the door aligner to an acceptable standard (which I can perfect later) but the wing just didn't want to sit nicely to the A panel and was under tension when clamped to the A panel which in turn pulled the A post and subsequently the door making the gap to the side panel waayyyyy to large.

 

So I stopped and stepped away to have a think. I went through what we know:

The door gap was previously all over the place before I started

The door wanted to naturally sit too low at the front

Raising the door height meant that it would clash with the roof frame and upper A post

The windscreen didn't fit well prior to me starting.

But most importantly, someone has been in here before and replaced the lower section of the A post boxing panel so I got to thinking

 

What if the piece was cut out and the upper A post sagged down? This would explain a lot but as lots of other work has been done too in the past plus me replacing the floor, what else would be wrong?

 

I decided that the door can only fit in one place to get an acceptable gap to start with, The door is square (ish) and the side panel is square so lets start by squaring the door up in the hole without the restrictions of door hinges or worrying about the position of the A panel yet.

 

So I did what any sane person would do and welded the door into the hole!
 

 

And the jacked up the roof frame to loose the sag 

 

 

 

 

Right, that's not going anywhere

 

Wing on

 

 

Looking good

 

 

Tweaking required here

 

 

Much better gaps now and although wider than the other side, they are pretty even so I can work with that once I reskin the doors

 

 

Most Importantly, no tension anywhere so I call that a success. 

 

Inner wing off and prepped before spot welding the inner A panel to it

 

 

Car prepped

 

 

I gave the window frame a tweak

 

 

And built the front back up again

 

 

 

Still fine so ready to weld in

 

 

Before I weld the inner wing on, I really want to build up the A post so I partially welded the inner wing in a few places and added a few screws to keep everything in place.

And the removed the welds from the door to check that it will stay where I want it

 

 

It has although as I previously said, the gaps are a little wide. I'm confident that everything is now in the right place at last so I can address the finer details later.

 

Off with the outer A panel and on with the step

 

 

 

Then a few screws and try the door on again

 

 

There is a slight sag in the middle but as the step is rigid due to the folds, I am blaming the door and will address that with a new skin

 

 

Then I welded on the step

 

 

Mocked up the jamb

 

 

 

And then welded that in

 

 

 

And finally made up a new boxing panel

 

 

And we are up to date.

 

Next, ill finish up the A post area and then get the front end on

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[KTS]

Bravo Ben !!

[Grant 111]

Really impressive, Your skill is really showing on this one keep up the good work.

[Ben_O]

Cheers guys.

[JXC Mini GT]

Great work Ben and a masterclass in solving door / panel alignment.

[Wiggy]

Inspiring stuff! You're a real credit to your industry.

[Ben_O]

Lunchtime update.

 

Boxing plate in

 

 

door jamb to upper door frame finished

 

 

Clean up and prep

 

 

Build up

 

 

 

Weld

 

 

 

And finished

 

 

 

I needed to trim the step slightly as it was a tad oversized

 

 

 

Done

 

 

Now onto the front end.

 

Ben

[KTS]

..after 17 years owning the car i've finally got a passenger door that fits !!!  thanks Ben - great work as always

[the.stroker]

Ben your skills never cease to impress......